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? Norm Van Brocklin, former NFL quarterback and coach and now a pecan farmer in Social Circle, Ga., describing the brain surgery he underwent two years ago: "It was a brain transplant. I got a sportswriter's brain so I could be sure I had one that hadn't been used."

NORM VAN BROCKLIN IS DEAD AT 57; STAR QUARTERBACK IN HALL OF FAME

ATLANTA, May 2— Norm Van Brocklin, the quarterback of two National Football League championship teams who later became a coach and was inducted into professional football's Hall of Fame, died today of a heart attack. He was 57 years old and resided in Social Circle, a small town 35 miles east of here. He had been ill in recent years.

The Dutchman, as he was known, was a stormy figure as a player and a coach. He led the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles to championships, and after his playing career, built respectable teams as coach of the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons.

He fought with players, fans and reporters, but friends remembered him as a complex, likable person. ''He was a fierce competitor, a no-nonsense guy on the field,'' said Marion Campbell, who had played with Van Brocklin. ''His play calling was absolutely fantastic,'' said Tommy McDonald, another former teammate. Mr. Van Brocklin, a native of Butte Creek, S.D., entered the N.F.L. in 1949 after an all-America season at the University of Oregon. With the Rams, he became one of the best quarterbacks, even though he had to divide playing time with others, including Bob Waterfield, another Hall of Fame member who died a month ago. Set a Passing Record

He sparked the Rams to their only championship in 1951. That year he passed for a record 554 yards in a game against the New York Yanks. The record still stands.

In 1957, unhappy with the Rams, he demanded a trade and was sent to the Eagles. In 1960, his final season as a player, he led Philadelphia to the championship, becoming the only quarterback to beat Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in a title game.

He led the N.F.L. in passing three times, and in punting twice, appearing in nine Pro Bowl games. After his final season, he became the first coach of the Vikings, an expansion team. He compiled a 29-51-4 mark through 1967, when he resigned. Last Job at Georgia Tech

A year later, he came here in midseason to coach the Falcons, a team that had won only three games in more than two seasons. He posted a 37-49-3 record, leading the Falcons to their first winning seasons, 7-6-1 in 1971, and 9-5 in 1973. In 1974, with the team 2-6, he was let go.

His last job in football was as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech under Pepper Rodgers in 1979, working with running backs. In recent years, he tended his pecan farm in Social Circle and was a sports analyst on Ted Turner's WTBS ''SuperStation.'' He underwent brain surgery twice in 1979 to correct an oxygen shortage and remove a blood clot.

? Norm Van Brocklin, Minnesota Vikings coach, after two of his players were thrown out of a game for fighting: "Rookies learn that the one who swings second loses. An oldtimer would have waited for a pileup, or some other time, to get even."

Van Brocklin led the Oregon Ducks to a 16-5 record as a starter, including tying with Cal for the 1948 title of the Pacific Coast Conference, forerunner of the Pac-10. Oregon did not go to the Rose Bowl, however, because Cal was voted by the other schools to represent the PCC in the game. Among the Cal voters was the University of Washington, which elevated the intensity of the Oregon-Washington rivalry. Oregon received an invitation to play SMU in the 1949 Cotton Bowl Classic, which they accepted. It was the first time that a Pacific Coast team played in a major bowl game other than the Rose Bowl. SMU won 20–13.[5] That season, Van Brocklin was honored with an All-America selection[6]and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting.[7] Coincidentally, the Heisman Trophy winner that year was SMU running back Doak Walker. Both Walker and Van Brocklin got Outstanding Player recognition for their performance in the Cotton Bowl Classic.[8]

Van Brocklin left Oregon for the NFL with one remaining year of college eligibility. At that time, a player wasn't allowed to join the NFL until four years after graduating from high school. Though he had only been at the University of Oregon for three years, he was eligible due to his time in the Navy during World War II.

Van Brocklin was drafted in the fourth round (37th overall) of the 1949 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.[9] He joined a team that already had a star quarterback, Bob Waterfield. Beginning in 1950, new Rams coach Joe Stydahar solved his problem by platooning Waterfield and Van Brocklin. The 1950 Rams scored an (at that time) NFL record 466 points (38.8 per game - which is still a record) with a high octane passing attack featuring Tom Fears and Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. Fears led the league and set a new NFL record with 84 receptions. Van Brocklin and Waterfield finished 1-2 in passer rating as well. They were defeated by the Cleveland Browns in the 1950 title game, 30-28.

In 1951, Van Brocklin and Waterfield again split quarterbacking duties and the Rams again won the West. That year, Hirsch set an NFL record with 1,495 receiving yards and tied Don Hutson's record of 17 touchdown receptions. This time, the Rams won the title rematch against Cleveland, 24-17. Waterfield (9-24, 125 yards) took most of the snaps, but Van Brocklin (4-6, 128 yards) threw the game winner of 73 yards to Fears. This was the last Rams championship until 1999. Also in 1951, on September 28, Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards, breaking Johnny Lujack's single-game record of 468, a mark that still stands more than a half-century later.

From 1952 to 1957, Van Brocklin continued to quarterback the Rams, leading them to the title game again in 1955. In that game, the Browns defeated the Rams 38-14 while Van Brocklin threw six interceptions.

In 1958, Van Brocklin joined the Philadelphia Eagles under famed head coach, Buck Shaw. Shaw gave Van Brocklin total control of the Eagle offense. Steadily, Van Brocklin improved the Eagles' attack. In the 1960 NFL Championship Game, throwing to his favorite receiver, 5' 9", 176 pound Tommy McDonald, Van Brocklin quarterbacked the Eagles to victory against the Green Bay Packers. In a game dominated by defense, he led a fourth quarter comeback resulting in a final score of 17-13.

During his twelve-year career, Van Brocklin played on two championship teams in the National Football League: the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles. Following the latter triumph, he retired. As it turned out, his Eagles team would be the only team to defeat the Packers in a playoff game during Vince Lombardi's tenure as Green Bay's head coach.[10] Van Brocklin led the NFL in passing three times and in punting twice. On nine occasions, he was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Van Brocklin cut his ties with the Eagles after his belief that the team had reneged on an agreement to name him head coach to replace the retiring Buck Shaw. On January 18, 1961, he accepted the head coaching position for the expansion Minnesota Vikings and over the next six years Van Brocklin compiled a record of 29-51-4. The tenure was highlighted by his contentious relationship with quarterback Fran Tarkenton. Van Brocklin was displeased with Tarkenton's penchant for scrambling, preferring that he stay in the pocket. The feud culminated with Van Brocklin's resignation on February 11, 1967. Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants shortly after Van Brocklin's departure, but reacquired by Van Brocklin's successor, Bud Grant, in 1972.

During his first year off the field in over two decades, Van Brocklin served as a commentator on 1967 NFL broadcasts for CBS.[11]

On October 1, 1968, he took over as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, replacing Norb Hecker, who had started the season with three defeats, extending the team losing streak to ten games. Over the next seven seasons, Van Brocklin had mixed results, putting together a 37-49-3 mark. He led the team to its first winning season in 1971 with a 7-6-1 record, then challenged for a playoff spot two years later with a 9-5 mark. However, after winning just two of his first eight games in 1974, he was fired.

Following his dismissal, Van Brocklin returned to his pecan farm in Social Circle, Georgia. His only connections to football during this era were as a running backs coach for Georgia Tech in 1979, and as a college football broadcaster.

Van Brocklin suffered a number of illnesses, including a brain tumor. After it was removed, he told the press, "It was a brain transplant. They gave me a sportswriter's brain, to make sure I got one that hadn't been used." He died on May 2, 1983, the day after suffering a stroke.

Van Brocklin was posthumously elected to the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992